View full sizeBruce Ely/The OregonianPortland's Greg Oden watches the jumbotron during a time-out in the Blazers' game against the Clippers on Thursday night.

Trail Blazers center Greg Oden on Thursday spoke with reporters for the first time since undergoing microfracture surgery on his left knee last fall. He discussed a host of issues, including what stage he's at in his rehabilitation and whether or not he wants to remain in Portland.

Here's a transcript of the question-and-answer session:

Oden: I want to get out there and play. All I can do right now is rehab, so I take all my aggression I usually put out on the court and I put that into rehab right now.

Q: Where are you at mentally right now?A: It is tough. It’s hard to ... it’s hard, it’s tough. I can’t put it no other way. But I have good people around me and I know that once I get over this I’m going to be back out there. And that’s what I look forward to.

Q: Who are you leaning on through all this?A: My mom. My mom. She’s a big one. I talk to her every other couple of days. She’s a big one. My mom’s always there to help you out.

Q: What does the doctor say you can do right now in your rehab?A: I’m just doing a little bit more cardio. In two weeks. I’ll be able to do the elliptical. So right now, 40 minutes of cardio a day, some table work. That’s about it. Pool twice a week.

Q: So you have been doing the pool?A: I’ve been doing the pool. They’re going to have me doing something different than what I was doing though.

Q: With everything you’ve been through, what makes you so convinced you’re going to return next season?A: Because I know I can play. That’s never went away. I’m not doubting my game. I just gotta get a chance, just gotta get healthy.

Q: Has there ever been a part of you that thought about quitting?A: No. Just try to get through it. It sucks. It happens. Keeps on happening, but ...

Q: Trainers have said your one knee is stronger than it was before, is that your hope, that this will do the same and your knees will be in better shape than they were before?A: That’s the plan. Hopefully, God willing, after all this, no more knee problems. Hopefully they’ll be strong, strong as they can possibly be.

Q: With so many doubters and the focus on Kevin Durant and that draft, how do you get through that?A: Because I know what I can do. Like I said, I just gotta get healthy. I’m not worried about everybody else. Kevin Durant is doing a great job. Who wouldn’t want to lead the league in scoring and be an All-Star, you know? But right now, I’ve got to worry about myself and get myself healthy and put myself in the best possible position to dominate.

Q: What is your message to fans?A: As in?

Q: To those that have followed you, grew to love you and then became frustrated?A: Not as half as frustrated as what I’ve been frustrated.

Q: You know what I mean, maybe some of them have given up on you?A: I know what you mean. Well, I’ll be back. All I can do is control myself and what I’m going. So right now I’m just rehabbing as hard as I can to get myself back out there and get healthy.

Q: Have they been able to give you a guess on when you’ll start running and then playing?A: That won’t be for a while.

Q: Is it possible that you’ll be ready for October training camp?A: That’s obviously going to be my goal. But I can’t rush what my recovery time is going to be.

Q: Do you want to be with the Blazers next year and going forward?A: You know what, that’s out of my hands. I can’t control that. I want to be where I can play and be healthy. Hopefully that can be here. I’m here now. But that’s definitely out of my hands.

Q: But they’ve said they intend on extending you a qualifying offer. Will you accept that offer?A: It hasn’t happened yet.

Q: But if it does, will you? Do you want to come back?A: When the time comes, most likely. But that has to happen down the line.

Q: Or would it be better to get a new start somewhere else?A: (shrug) Things I haven’t thought about really. I’m really worried about rehab. And all that stuff, I’m just kind of just when it happens, it’ll happen. Right now it’s just rehab for me.

Q: Is it difficult to get emotionally invested in the games?A: Believe me, I’m a bigger fan of the game than I’ve ever been. Even though I don’t change my look, that’s just my frustration, wanting to be out there.

Q: When it comes down to it, this is a business. But is there a part of you that feels like you owe this organization something? You’ve only played 82 games in four seasons.A: That I owe them for getting hurt? I’m just trying to say, I owe them for getting hurt? No, that’s something I can’t really control. That’s just a weird question to say. But I’ve had some bad luck and I have to deal with it.

Q: Since they drafted you No. 1, do you feel like you need to show them that you can still be that player?A: I want to show myself. I want to get out there, dominate and do all that for me. At this time, it’s more about thinking about what I can do to better myself and show my talents out there on the court.

Q: Have you thought about getting a cooler cane? (laughs)A: I mean, I got one with a sword in it. You wanna see it? (laughs)

Q: Have you managed to stay positive through all this?A: Yeah. I tell you, my mom has been a big influence. Definitely helping me stay positive. My family, they’ve been there, they’ve been here whenever I needed them to.

Q: As the fact that you’ve been through this before helped?A: It doesn’t really do anything. It just sucks either way. You look at it back then, it wasn’t good and now it’s not good. I know what to expect, it’s a long process, but it’s not fun no matter what.

Q: You’ve been away from hoops so much, do you look at life differently now?A: Look at life differently? No, I still, my heart, I still want to go out there and play. That’s really all I think about. I go home and I watch even more basketball when I’m not here. It’s still consuming me and it’s still what I want to do.

Q: When’s the last time you had a checkup with the doctor?A: Yesterday. Just flew in from Vail (Colo.) this morning.

Q: What did the doctor say?A: Just moving on to the next progression, which is a lot of cardio.

Q: Things similar with this knee as the other one?A: I don’t really remember exactly what I did day to day back then. But I think it’s about the same. Everything’s on schedule.

Q: Do you have any pain?A: No pain. I haven’t had any pain for a while.

Q: What’s the reception you’ve received while you’ve been out?A: It’s OK. There’s been a lot of negativity out there. I just try not to deal with that.

Q: Do you hear some positives?A: Sometimes, sometimes. I definitely hear a lot more negatives. But there’s definitely some positive people that come up to me and that makes me feel good.

Q: What’s motivating you right now?A: Just me. Watching basketball. I haven’t played it for two years. I want to get out there and dominate. That’s all I can look at right now.